Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd (QIHU), Baidu.com, Inc. (BIDU): The Second Big Player in the Chinese Search Market?

The company is targeting 20% search market share by the end of the year. Qihoo’s current search market share estimates range from 12% to 15%, according to various sources.

Baidu takes a swing at Qihoo’s market

Baidu.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) has made a move on Qihoo’s own turf by launching its antivirus software in April. The Baidu.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) Antivirus app is co-produced with security experts from Kaspersky. Although the app is still a beta version, it is nonetheless a direct stab at Qihoo, which is known for its security software. In order to compete on a higher level with Qihoo, Baidu.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) will need to develop an app for the Android mobile OS as well, since the global trends favor more use of mobile phones and tablets, especially in the Android ecosystem.

Bottom line

Qihoo has managed to expand its leadership position in its dominant markets, and continues to invest heavily to improve its leadership position. The company’s efforts in the search market are evident, and there are more challenges ahead. Baidu.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) is quite dominant in the search market, and Qihoo has a long way to go to further improve its internal search system. However, its partnership with Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) could help the company in this goal. On the other hand, Baidu.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) might challenge Qihoo in the antivirus market.

China is certainly a huge market, and it has room for two large players. It will be very interesting to see how things go from here. Qihoo’s search market share penetration is what you should look at in order to get a sense of its success. Another thing is if they can make money from search; the next few quarters will show us just what we need to know in that regard.

The article The Second Big Player in the Chinese Search Market? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Dusan Jovanic has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Baidu and Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Baidu and Google. Dusan is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

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